Sunbeams
by bandgeek18
Summary: AU. Part of the Shadows and Arrows Series. A collection of one-shots about Roy meeting some of the other Bat-kids.
1. Jason

A/N: This is the first one-shot collections for this series and will be updated once a week. It details Roy meeting the Bat-kids who joined during the 5 year gap.

This one technically takes place before the epilogue chapter of To Wear A Shadow. If the timeline of the series gets too confusing, please let me know.

Enjoy!

_"Hey bro! You should come home this weekend! There's a…surprise I want you to see!"_

Roy sighed as he climbed the stairs from the Bat Cave into the Manor; his younger brother's voicemail replaying in his head. "A surprise, hm…" he muttered as he climbed the stairs to his bedroom. "And yet neither he or Bruce is nowhere to be found." Figures. Roy dumped his bag in his bedroom, then left supposing he could look for Dick in the Manor's gym. Just as he turned into the hall though, he stopped.

There was a kid in the hall. A thin boy whose arms were crossed over his chest and his face contorted in a scowl. Roy opened his mouth to say something, but before he could the kid suddenly said, "Who the fuck are you and what the hell are you doing here?"

'Did he just swear at me?!' Roy demanded silently, taken aback for a moment. 'He's what…11?! 12 maybe?!' He finally closed his mouth and swallowed. "I think I should be asking you that…"

The kid seemed to get even angrier. He narrowed his eyes like he was sizing Roy up. "I live here." His tone was challenging; like he was daring Roy to argue with him.

"Well…so do I. Kind of." The kid continued to glare. "Uh…"

"Roy!" Dick yelled down the hall, apparently while also forgetting all of Alfred's rules about running inside. He practically skidded to a halt next to the boy, who he glanced at…nervously? "I see you two have met." Roy gave Dick an 'explain this now!' look. "Roy, this is Jason Todd. We…found him."

"You found him? Where?!"

"…Crime Alley." Roy blinked, his mouth open a little bit and his eyes wide.

This didn't go unnoticed by Jason, who practically bared his teeth. "You got a problem with that?!" the kid demanded, once again looking like he was sizing Roy up.

"Nope."

"Jason," Dick said gently, reaching out to put his arm around the boy. His arm rested across Jason's thin shoulders for only a second before the latter was simultaneously ducking away and shoving Dick. Roy felt something picking at his brain due to Jason's behavior. Dick took it in stride though, still smiling at Jason, who had now stepped two feet away. "This is Roy Harper. I told you about him…remember?"

"Oh yeah…the archer." Jason looked Roy up and down once before turning away and walking down the hall.

"He's probably just going to the library. He likes to hang out there for some reason." Dick turned to Roy, who was staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and shock. "What?"

"What?!" Roy demand. "You called me and told me that you had a surprise for me!"

"…Well you're surprised, aren't you?"

"Dick, a surprise is a new motorcycle or a new weapon! Not a kid you guys just…found! When did this happen anyways!?"

"Like three days ago. We were on patrol and we let the Batmobile in Crime Alley. When we returned we discovered that someone had taken the tires."

"Let me guess…Jason?"

"Yup."

"…He stole the tires…off the Batmobile?!"

"Uh-huh."

"And Bruce just decided…what? To keep him?"

"Pretty much." He could tell how confused Roy still was. "Jason was living on the street, Roy! He was hungry and alone and…I mean we couldn't just not keep him!"

"He's a person, Dick; not a stray cat." Roy sighed a little and rubbed his face. "What's he like?"

"Uh…hard to tell. I think he likes books and…that's it."

"Really?" Given Dick's social prowess, Roy would've figured he'd know everything about Jason by now.

"He's kind of hard to get to know. I mean…he's probably a nice kid once you get to know him, but he's a little rough around the edges."

'That I definitely noticed.' Roy nodded a bit. "How does Alfred feel about all this?"

"Alfie seems to like him."

"And Bruce?"

"Bruce has been really busy at work the last few days. He hasn't been around to you know…get to know Jay."

'Really, Bruce?' Roy thought, shaking his head. 'You take the kid in, then ignore him for three days? Yeah, that's not going to mess with his head at all.' There was a pang of sympathy in his chest for Jason, despite their…rocky meeting. "Good to know."

"Yeah. Come on, let's go downstairs and you can tell about what's been going on in Star. What happened with that smuggling ring you were tracking down?"

"Ugh! It was awful!"

The two of them spent the next few hours down in the Bat Cave with Dick working on his utility belt and Roy talking him about what he'd been up to in Star. Alfred came to retrieve them when it was time for dinner. When they walked into the dining room, Jason was already sitting there, head down. as he passed, Roy could see the book open in the boy's lap.

"No reading at the table, Master Jason," Alfred said. Jason huffed and closed the book, then set it aside on the table.

Roy sat down in his seat, across from Jason and Dick. It was just then he noticed one of the seats was empty. "Where's Bruce?" he asked.

"Master Bruce got held up at the office." Alfred served the three boys their dinners and they lasted into a strange silence. It wasn't tense, but it wasn't comfortable either. Roy watched Jason, paying particular attention to how he seemed to almost wrap an arm defensively around his plate. His eyes kept darting around, from Dick to Roy, then to his plate, then back to Dick.

'He thinks someone's going to take it,' Roy realized after a few minutes; his stomach plummeting a little bit. 'Poor kid.' It almost physically hurt to see the child so tense. Jason finished first, having practically inhaled his meal, but he didn't move from the table. Roy did he best to seem like he wasn't watching the boy, getting quick glances at him every few seconds. Jason was sitting there stiffly, looking at his plate, then occasionally glancing at Dick's plate then Roy. 'Not me,' Roy realized after a few seconds. 'He's looking at the kitchen…' Sympathy stabbed at him again, twisting Roy's stomach bit. Wanting to do something, Roy looked down at his plate, then made a face. "Hm…green beans. I'm not really a fan of them."

"What?" Dick asked, clearly confused, but Roy ignored him.

"Do you want them, Jason?" Both boys looked at him; Dick in confusion and Jason in suspicion. "I mean….on the down low of course. I don't want Alfred to know I'm pawning my vegetables off on you." There was a few sense of tense silence as Jason eyed him. Roy could practically see the wheels turning int he kid's head and had to bite back the need to assure him it wasn't a trap. Knowing that would probably have the opposite effect though, he simply inched his plate closer to Jason. After another second, Jason's thin arm abruptly snaked out, snagged Roy's plate, dumped the remaining vegetables onto his own, then returned the first plate. Dick still looked confused, but Jason was eating the green beans, so Roy shrugged his brother off and finished the rest of his dinner.

Just as they were finishing, they heard the front door open, the close. A minute later, Bruce entered the dining room. "Roy," he said in surprise upon seeing the red-head. "I didn't know you were coming home this weekend."

"Uh-huh," Roy replied, looking at Dick, who was suddenly very interested in his dinner plate. "There's a lot of surprises around here lately."

"Yeah… Hi Dick…Jason…"

"Hi," Jason mumbled under his breath.

"Hey B," Dick replied. "How was your day?"

"Fine. Uh…Roy, since you're here, are you joining us on patrol?"

"Sure," Roy shrugged.

Dick grinned at him, across the table. "Yes!" he cheered. "Wait until you see my new belt in action! It's fantastic!"

"I'm sure." Roy glanced at Jason who was slipping from the room. He opened his mouth, then closed it. 'Not too fast,' he reminded himself silently. 'You don't want to scare him off.'

Bruce caught Roy's eye watching Jason leave and the two of them shared a moment of awkward eye contact. "I was going to tell you," Bruce said after a moment. "…Eventually."

"Sure."

"I wasn't trying to hide it from you-"

"I know." And he did. Roy didn't believe Bruce was purposefully trying to hide Jason's presence, he was just being….himself. 'I think he's trying. At least…I hope he is.'

— —

After a successful patrol, Roy was changing in his room when he decided to stay up for a bit and read. Unfortunately, any books from his room he'd have interest in reading were at his apartment in Star. 'Well…the library it is.' He walked as silently as possible, not wanting to disturb anyone who'd already gone to sleep. 'Probably most people. Even Alfred's gone to bed by now.' Which is why he was so surprised when he walked into the library and found Jason curled up in an armchair. The boy's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed when he saw Roy.

"I'm allowed to be here," he said defensively before Roy could say anything at all.

"Ok. That's fine," Roy replied. "I was just…looking for something to read." As he slowly approached, Roy could see the title of the book in the child's lap. "Peter Pan? I've never read it. Is it good?"

"It's ok…"

"That's good." Roy sat down in another armchair that was close to Jason's and was quiet for a moment. Then, he quietly said, "…I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"…What?!" Instead of answering, Roy held out his hand, showing his left palm to Jason. The boy stared at it, his eyes slowly growing wider as he recognized a burn scar. "How…. Did-did Bruce do that?"

"No! No, Bruce didn't do that. This…this was because of someone else. Someone that Bruce rescued me from."

"Oh…" Jason didn't say anything else, but he did look a little less tense. Not knowing what to say next, Roy slowly took his shirt off and turned awkwardly in his chair so Jason could see his back. "Holy shit…." After a minute, Roy put his shirt back on and sat back in his seat. Jason looked down, then slowly pulled up the sleeve of his shirt. He held out his thin arm, showing Roy the small, dark circles on the underside of his arm. Roy cringed a little. "There was this guy… He was always hanging around my alley and he didn't like me very much. Every time he caught me he'd beat me and put his cigarettes out on me."

"That's awful…" Roy looked up from the boy's arm and discovered Jason was staring at him intently. "My….guardian, before Bruce, he had refused to feed me and I was really hungry because I'd only been allowed to eat breakfast that morning. So I tried to sneak some food and he caught me So he….put my hand on a hot burner on the stove."

"Ouch. And…you back?"

"…That happened more than once. Usually, whenever he thought I was talking back or being disrespectful, he would whip me with his belt."

"There was this guy, we called him Sal, he would show up near Crime Alley sometimes…he would keep telling me that "brats should be taught a lesson" when I told him to keep his paws off my food. So he always slapped me in the mouth, or give me a quick beating."

"I hated beatings. Like…getting punched or slapped, that wasn't a beating. Beatings involved kicking, strangling, punching, and insults. Lots of threats and insults."

"Anyone ever call you a gutter rat? Or a useless leach on society who will never achieve anything?"

"More like an ungrateful bastard and stupid."

"Going to end up dead in a gutter somewhere."

"A waste of space."

"Poor excuse for a person."

"Worthless."

"Dirty."

"Only good for vigilantism."

"Not good for anything at all." Their voices had slowly started to pick up some weight and volume like they were trying to one-up each other. After Jason's last confession though, there was a small moment of silence. "Why-why did you end up here? Dick mentioned no one knows you lived here."

"My guardian was a vigilante and he…manipulated me and forced me to become one too. He wasn't like Batman and he killed criminals. I-I didn't like that and I didn't want to kill people. Bruce…that's how Bruce knew about me. He was keeping an eye on my guardian and realized what was happening. I ran away with Robin in the middle of the night so no one could know I was here, or-"

"You could get sent back. But…you're still a vigilante…? Even after the other guy…beat the shit out of you and tricked you?"

"Yeah."

"No offense, but that sounds really fucking insane."

"I know, but…I just couldn't stop. I became a vigilante because I wanted to help people. I wanted to do something good in the memory of someone who I'd lost. Even though I'd been hurt and I was originally tricked into doing it…I really wanted help. I just knew that I could do a lot of good as a vigilante."

"…I guess that makes sense…" Roy nodded, happy that Jason understood at least a little bit. "So…you live in Star City, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"What's it like?"

"Kind of like Gotham, but brighter. More lights and fewer gargoyles."

"Oh. Cool…" Jason looked down at the book.

"Do you like reading?"

"…Yeah."

"Well, there's plenty to read in here."

"I guess…"

"You guess?"

"It's not like I can read all of them. Some of these books look really…nice; like no one's ever read them before. I'd probably just mess them up by touching them."

"Hmmm…. Do you have any books of your own?"

"No."

"Bruce hasn't gotten you any yet?"

"I've talked to him like….four times since he brought me here."

'Great work, Bruce,' Roy thought, trying not to sigh in irritation. 'That definitely won't make the kid feel isolated and unwanted by not talking to him.' He never claimed Bruce was perfect at this. "You know, there's a used bookstore a few blocks from my apartment in Star. Maybe once you get settled here, you could come to Star and we could go get you some books."

Jason snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Sure."

"I'm serious."

"Do I look like an idiot to you?"

'Actions will be louder than words,' Roy reminded himself. "Well, I will. Then you can have some of your own to keep in your room."

"…That'd be cool. I guess."

"Good."

"Are you- Going back tomorrow?" There was a hint of fear and hope in his voice; like he was hoping Roy wasn't leaving.

"I was planning on it- He paused when he saw Jason's face fall, then his head turned away; clearly hoping Roy wouldn't notice. "…but I think I'll stay for the weekend."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If that's ok with you. This is your home too now, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"You can stay…you know…since it's your home. Kind of."

"Thanks. You're alright, Jason. You're a good kid." Jason stiffened a little bit, but he didn't say anything. It was only a little bit of a change, but it was something, so Roy was willing to take it. "We should probably go to bed. Alfred's kind of strict about bedtimes around here."

"Yeah…I've noticed." Roy stood up and waited for Jason to do the same. The boy set his book down but didn't move toward the door. Unfazed though, Roy left the library first, figuring that it would make Jason more comfortable to follow him. The boy was quiet as they climbed the stairs to the wing of the mansion where the bedrooms were. When they stopped outside their bedrooms, Roy turned to Jason, expecting the boy to escape into his own bedroom quickly. Instead, Jason was hesitating; standing there with his arms crossed and shifting from one foot to the other.

"Everything ok?" Roy asked him.

"Yeah…" Instead of accepting that, Roy stood patiently, waiting for Jason to continue. "My room is just…empty."

"Empty?"

"Yeah. It's big and empty and you know….lots of shadows where people could hide." He left out the intimidation the blank walls gave him and how nervous he felt sleeping in a room that didn't feel like it was anyone's. Luckily for him, Roy understood more than he knew.

"Where've you been sleeping?'

"…In your bedroom…"

"Mine? Why?"

Jason hesitated. "…There's stuff. It looks like someone lives there."

"And you've been doing this the whole time?"

"Mhm. I sneak over there after everyone goes to bed, then wake up early and sneak up to mine before they get up."

'…That can't be good for the poor kid getting a good night's sleep.'

"But…you know, you probably don't want me in there so I'll just suck it up."

Not willing to take that, Roy opened his bedroom door, then stepped aside. "Come on," he said, gesturing. "You can sleep in here."

"…With you?"

"If you're comfortable with that."

Jason considered it for a moment. "Sure. You're…not a total freak."

"…Thanks?" Jason entered the bedroom and Roy shut the door. "I can sleep on the floor and give you the bed-"

"No!" Roy looked at him in confusion. "I can't just kick you out of your bed!"

"Why not?"

"…You're Bruce's son. He'd probably get really pissed at me for kicking you out of your own bed."

"No, Jason, believe me, he won't do that. I know, I've been there, but he won't." Jason stood still arms crossed and head down. "Ok….we can….hang on a sec." Roy disappeared from the room, quickly finding the closest linen closet and pulling down all the extra blankets and pillows he could carry. When he got back to his room, he was relieved to see Jason was still in his room. Without explaining anything, Roy started folding the blankets vertically, then laid them down on the bed. He piled them on top of each other, then piled the pillows on top as well. When he was finished, there was a wall of linens dividing the bed into two equal spaces. "There, look. I can sleep on one side and you can sleep on the other. We don't even have to touch." He studied Jason's face as the boy studied the bed. 'He's so closed off,' Roy noted, taking in the neutral, almost angry look and tense body language. 'I wish I could tell what he's thinking.'

"…It's alright…"

"Just alright?"

Jason shrugged. "You know. I guess. A bed is a bed, you know."

"Yeah. I do. Come on, let's get some sleep." Roy went for the side farther from the door, leaving the side closest to the exit for Jason. If the boy noticed the intention, he didn't mention it; but Roy didn't mind. He snuggled under a blanket he'd placed on his side of the bed. For a few minutes, there was a tense silence. He looked at Jason and saw the boy was laying there very tensely. "Is this ok, Jason? If it's not it's fine. I can go to Dick's room-"

"No, it's fine." He turned his head and Roy was slightly taken aback by the lack of a glare on his face. "…Thanks."

"You're welcome, kid."

"Why though? What do you want?"

"Nothing, Jason. You're my brother now, like Dick, and I take care of my brothers. That's what we do around here."

"…Dick is way too friendly. It's the opposite of Bruce."

"I hate to break it to you, but overly friendly is Dick's only way to get to know you. I know it can be overwhelming though, so if you just explain to him— with words— that it makes you uncomfortable he'll back off a bit."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. He's a great brother too. Just let him grow on you a bit."

"Bruce doesn't ignore him."

"Bruce… he tries." Jason snorted. "I'm serious. He's not great at this."

"This?"

"Kids. Kids who don't trust adults. He's made mistake with me, some of them serious, but I've always forgiven him because I know he cares. Trust me, you wouldn't here if he didn't care. Give him some time to figure out how to approach you."

"Dick said it's because I'm so unapproachable."

Roy wanted to groan. 'Really Dick? Don't force the poor kid to open up if he's not ready.' These people, really. "Don't listen to that. You're still new here and not trusting people is a valid worry, as long as you try eventually."

"How long is eventually?"

"Give it a month."

"Ok, but only if you take me to that bookstore."

Roy smiled. "You got yourself a deal, kid."

"Good." They lapsed back into silence. Roy's eyelids were starting to get heavy and he yawned. Looking at Jason again, he discovered the boy was now fast asleep. Roy smiled to himself as he slugged down into his blanket.

— —

Some time in the middle of the night, Roy woke up due to feeling unbearably hot. He frowned and looked around in confusion. When he looked down at himself though, he had to smile. The wall he'd constructed in the bed had basically been demolished, with blankets and pillows scattered about. Jason had migrated to Roy's side of the bed so that his side was now pressed against Roy's. 'He gives off a lot of heat of such a small kid.' It wasn't like how Dick cuddled with Roy— latching onto him like a koala bear— but it was still endearing to him. He smiled and gently readjusted himself, then closed his eyes. He turned his head a bit so it was resting on Jason's.

'I'm so glad you stole the tires off the Batmobile.'


	2. Barbara

A/N: Here's the next one-shot. It takes place like...9ish months after the last one. (Still before the epilogue chapter of To Wear A Shadow). Who needs a sensical timeline? As always, please let me know what you think!

"What do you mean you're not coming home this weekend?!" Dick demanded over the phone.

"How many times do I have to explain that Star is my home now?" Roy asked as he paced around his kitchen.

"Well, your original home is Gotham."

"Regardless, I'm still not coming."

"Why not?!"

"Dick I just got home from a mission with the Team. I want to sleep and I need to go on patrol here."

"You can do that tomorrow."

Roy sighed. "I'm sorry, Dick, but the answer is no."

"But we really need your help."

"With what?"

"…A training exercise."

"What kind of training exercise?"

"To help Jay. Come on, don't you want to help your little brother?"

Roy sighed low and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "…Fine. I'll come."

"Yes! Thanks, Bro! You won't regret it!" Dick hung up and Roy shook his head.

"I already do…" Roy looked around his apartment, which was relatively clean, save a few items of clothing scattered around and a slightly overflowing trashcan. 'Which isn't bad considering how I've been here maybe three times this week.' He leaned against the wall and put his head in his hands. A two-day mission with the Team (after a little bit of persuasion from Kaldur) that had caused him to be on the other side of the world and that was after he'd closed two cases in his private business and three more as Red Arrow. While dodging police bullets. 'This is getting to be a lot,' he thought as he stood up straight. 'I may have to think about leaving the Team.'

It was an idea he'd been playing with recently. His busy schedule in Star with starting his own business and being Red Arrow combined with a recent influx of new members had started to make him think it was time to step down. 'Jason is supposed to be ready soon,' he thought. 'Which means he should be joining the Team any week now. Tula and Garth are fitting in fine. We have Troia and the Marvels.' The Team was growing, and while he was glad for it, Roy didn't think he was expressly needed anymore. He lifted his head and looked at the clock. 'If I'm heading to Gotham tonight, then I should get ready.' He looked around his apartment one more time before shrugging. "It'll be fine for one more day."

— —

When he walked into the Bat Cave, Red Arrow became acutely aware of the fact that someone was watching him. He didn't change the pace of his walking however, as he approached Bruce at the computer. When he got within 10 feet, he heard someone shuffling around above his head. 'Probably Dick,' he thought. The shuffling continued, then stopped. Red Arrow counted to five, then stepped to the side. The red and green of the Robin suit flashed in the corner of his eye and he smiled. "Knew it.' Typical. "Hey, D-"

"Hi, Roy!" Jason smiled as he popped up from his crouched position. He put his hands on his hips proudly. "Notice anything different?"

"Just a little…" It was definitely weird seeing the Robin suit on anyone who wasn't Dick. Jason was a little taller and broader than Dick had been at his age, which slightly threw off Roy's mental image of a 13-year-old Robin. "You look great."

"Thanks!"

"If you're Robin, then where's-" He heard more shuffling above his head and took two big steps back a person clad in black landed in front of him.

"Aww man," the person sighed as he stood up straight. He turned around to reveal Dick, now wearing an all-black suit with a blue bird on the front. "Jay Bird, you were supposed to keep him distracted for me."

Jason huffed and crossed his arms. "I never agreed to your stupid plan," he muttered.

"Dick?" Red Arrow asked uncertainly.

"It's Nightwing now," Nightwing smiled. He took out his escrima sticks from the harness on his back, then spun them in his hands. "Cool, huh?"

"It's…different." Red Arrow glanced at Batman, but he wasn't offering any help or information. "Why aren't you Robin anymore?"

"Because I am!" Jason replied as if that explained everything.

"Close," Nightwing told him. He looked at Red Arrow. "I decided it was just…time to move on. You know? Jay's been working so hard, I thought he deserved to be Robin."

"Is this why you were so insistent that I come here tonight?" Red Arrow asked.

"…Maybe."

"We need you to help Jason with a training exercise," Batman said, finally turning his chair to acknowledge Red Arrow. "There's been a string of car thefts downtown. Jason is to solve the case alone. Only help him if he absolutely needs it." The trend to Robin. "And I will ask him how many times you asked for help."

"I don't need help, B-Man," Robin replied. "I'm ready!"

"Mhm." Batman looked at Red Arrow. "Do you understand?"

"Yes…" Red Arrow replied. "The only thing I don't get is why you absolutely needed me to do this. You or R- Nightwing could've done it."

"Nightwing and I will be preoccupied elsewhere tonight. Make sure you report any strange activity to me right away. Understand?"

"…Yeah. Sure. Report strange activity in Gotham. No problem."

Nightwing laughed. "B means out of the ordinary for Gotham," he said.

"I'm sure. Alright, come on…Robin. Let's get out there."

"Later, losers," Robin smirked as he followed Red Arrow to his bike. "B says if I can solve the car theft case I can join the Team."

"Did he?"

"Mhm!"

Red Arrow smiled at him as the young teen got on the bike behind him. "We'll have to make sure you solve it then."

— —

Once they were out in the city and following the trail of evidence Robin had, it became clear to Red Arrow solving the case may be a bit harder for Robin than he was letting on. The kid was smart (Red Arrow had seen the A+ he'd gotten a book report the month before) but his detective skills still needed a little bit of work. 'He's still really good compared to your average 13-year-old boy,' Red Arrow thought as he followed his young companion to the next break-in site. 'He just needs more training and time.'

Robin stopped suddenly on a rooftop, then pulled up his hologlove. "The latest break-in was here," he said. "This is where we'll start investigating."

"Why here?"

"Because the evidence here is the freshest. Duh."

"Right…" Red Arrow watched Robin climb over the edge of the roof, then drop onto the fire escape. He hesitated for a moment, then followed. As he dropped onto it though, he stopped for a moment. 'Am I being…watched?' Red Arrow looked back, but there was no one there. Just darkness and shadows. "Hmm…' He shook his head, then climbed down the fire escape to join Robin. The teen was scanning the ground with his hologlove. "What're you doing?"

"Trying to see if there are any tracks left…" Robin sighed, then looked up The two heroes stood on a small side-street and across from them, squeezed between a deli and an abandoned video rental store, was an alley. Robin smiled, then made a beeline for the alley.

'What's he-' Red Arrow froze and, almost instinctually, his breathing quieted through now shallow breaths. 'I'm being watched.' He spun on his heel suddenly and looked up at the building they'd just been on. As he moved, his eyes caught something that moved in the dark shadows above him. He blinked, then narrowed his eyes. Nothing moved. 'Hm… I could've sworn I saw something…'

"What're you looking at?" Robin asked as he rejoined Red Arrow.

"Nothing… I thought I saw someone up there…but it was nothing." Red Arrow looked down at Robin. "What did you do in the alley?"

"I used to hang around here sometimes. There are some guys who live in that alley, so asked them if they saw anything suspicious."

"What'd they say?"

"They said a couple of young people, a girl, and a guy, were hanging out in front of the tattoo shop behind us, then five minutes later, the car was gone."

"Did you get any specific information on the two thieves?"

"One is blonde, and the other has brown hair. Wouldn't say which is which though."

'Which means the girl most likely has short hair like a guy if it was hard to tell them apart like that,' Red Arrow thought. He knew he couldn't say anything though, and stayed quiet as Robin puzzled it out.

"…Do you think it's possible that the girl has like…really short hair and…it would be hard to tell her and the guy apart from a distance?"

Red Arrow simply smiled in reply. 'He's got it.' His smile was enough though because Robin nodded to himself and took out his grappling gun.

"Let's get moving. I've got a hunch about our next piece of evidence."

Instead of asking, Red Arrow simply followed him to the rooftop, then across the city. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Robin swing himself between the buildings. He didn't do it with the natural ease that Nightwing had; like someone who was born to be in the air. 'He's still good though,' Red Arrow thought as he stopped side Robin a couple minutes later. 'He's a good kid and in a couple years he'll be just as good as Dick.'

"Ok, so, I noticed in the file that all the cars they stole weren't new, but they had some nice parts. On the first and second ones, the tires had just been replaced. The third car has just gotten a brand new transmission and the suspension had just been fixed on the fourth car."

"And how do you know this?"

"Police reports, duh. Keep up."

"Sorry, sorry. So, all the missing cars had work done recently. What're we doing here?"

"It's a mechanic shop. Anyone can sell some of these items on the streets, but what would they do with a transmission? Not everyone can just put that in a car."

"Good point."

"And, the thieves must somehow know these cars had gotten work done. Which leads again to a mechanic shop."

"Why this one though?"

"I know this place. The guy who owns it has been to prison for tax evasion before. He pays all his employees under the table in cash. And he's known for selling old, beat up cars that he repaints to look new."

"So he's a shady guy."

"Exactly. He might not be involved, but he might know who is."

"Sounds like a plan. Do you need help interrogating him?"

"No. I'm just gonna break into his office and garage to poke around. You stay here and act as the lookout."

"Alright. Go ahead."

Robin smiled at him, then leaped over the side of the rooftop. Red Arrow watched him move stealthily across the street to the mechanic shop, then around the side to find an entrance. 'He's doing a great job. Bruce and Dick did a great job training him.' Even if they'd been a little reluctant to let Jason become a vigilante in the first place. The archer shifted a little to get a better grip on his bow, but then he froze. The feeling was back. He let his breathing slip back into the shallow and slow cadence as he waited. 'I swear someone is watching me. I need to figure it out for sure though.'

So he moved down the block. Not so far that he couldn't see what Robin was doing, or provide back-up if it was needed, but far enough that he could try to draw out his stalker. He ran to another rooftop, then dropped down onto a fire escape. As he fell, he grabbed the edge of the first platform. Red Arrow held his breath as he hung there in the darkness. His head was tilted up at the rooftop and he scanned the edge carefully. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then he saw it. Someone, with ears that look suspiciously like Batman's, leaned over the edge of the rooftop. The person stayed there for a second as if scanning the ground. 'Got you!'

Moving as silently as possible, Red Arrow swung himself down to the next platform. He held his breath for a moment, then looked up in time to see the person disappear again. 'You're not getting away this time.' Red Arrow climbed back up and got his head up in time to see the shadowy person retreating across the rooftop. A glance back across the street told Red Arrow that Robin still hadn't come out of the mechanic shop, or run into trouble apparently. So, he ran after the shadowy stalker. The stalker was fast. They leaped across the small back alleyway between buildings, then took a sharp turn to the left and disappeared behind an old chimney. As they did, Red Arrow saw something flowing in the air behind them. 'Was that a cape?! It can't be Batman. This person is so much smaller. What's going on?!'

"Hey, Red Arrow!" Robin yelled.

Red Arrow turned around and saw the younger vigilante running toward him. The archer sighed. "Robin-"

"I got it! The two thieves work here! I got their names and-" As soon as Robin was close to Red Arrow, the archer grabbed his arm and pulled him down. "What-"

"Shh! We have someone following us!"

"We do?"

"Yes. We need to trap them. Do you see that old chimney on the next rooftop?"

"Yeah?"

"You go left and I'll go right. We'll converge on it. Got it?"

"Got it!"

Red Arrow nodded, then moved to the right. He crept low across the rooftop, jumped to the next. He needed a running start to get across the small back alleyway, but now he was close. Despite it being night, the chimney still cast an even darker shadow. This made it impossible to see the stalker, but Red Arrow still moved forward. As he crept closer, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it to his bow. Every few seconds he saw a flash of red or yellow, confirming Robin was heading that way too. 'We'll see who this stalker is.' He took a breath as he raised his arrow and stupid closer to the chimney.

"There's no one here!" Robin threw his hands in the air, then touched the chimney. "See?!"

"I don't understand. I know I saw someone-" Red Arrow froze. 'What is it that Dick always says? People never look up…?' He glanced up, then shot his arrow. The figure did a backflip off the top of the chimney and Red Arrow jumped up. He landed on top of the chimney and pointed another arrow at the fleeing stalker. "Still think no one was there?!"

Robin peeked around the chimney and studied the fleeing figure. "Hey!" he shouted as he recognized the outline of the suit, even in the dark. He looked up at Red Arrow. "Don't shoot!"

"Why?"

"That's a not a stalker, stupid! It's just-" He stopped suddenly, which caused Red Arrow to look down at him.

"It's just who?"

"B-Man said I'm not allowed to say."

Something inside Red Arrow twisted, but he closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. 'Don't jump to conclusions. Try not to jump to conclusions. Maybe Bruce has a good reason for this.' He took another deep breath. "So Batman knows about our stalker?"

"Not a stalker. Come on, let's just…go find B-Man and 'Wing. They'll explain everything."

"Alright." Red Arrow put his arrow back in his quiver, then jumped down from the chimney. He put his hand to his comm. "Batman?"

"Red Arrow," Batman replied.

"Robin has completed his case."

"Good. Report back to the Cave."

"On our way." Red Arrow nodded to Robin. "Race you back to my bike."

Robin gave him a grin, then took off running. Red Arrow laughed, then followed at a sprint.

— —

When Red Arrow and Robin got back to the Bat Cave, Batman and Nightwing were waiting for them. As soon as the bike stopped, Robin jumped off the back. "I solved the case!" he declared. He crossed his arms proudly. "Bet you didn't even solve a case on your first night, Golden Boy."

"Afraid you're right, Jay," Dick replied. He was still in his new Nightwing suit sans mask.

"I told you I could do it."

"Who did you have tailing us?" Red Arrow asked as he approached.

"Oh, yeah…we also ran into someone out there."

"Tailing you?" Dick asked, his voice obviously hiding something. "We didn't have anyone tailing you."

"Uh-huh. Who was it?"

Nightwing looked at Batman, who didn't say anything for a moment. Then he looked at something behind Red Arrow and Robin. "I thought you said he didn't see you?"

Red Arrow whipped around, one of his hands going instinctively to his quiver. Then he saw the person who'd stepped out of the shadows and his mouth fell open.

"Well he never got a good look at me," the teenage girl said. She was wearing a bat-suit with red hair falling down her back under her cowl. She crossed her arms.

"What- Who-" Red Arrow whipped back around to look at Batman and Nightwing. "Who?!"

"Red Arrow, meet Batgirl. Batgirl, this is Red Arrow," Batman explained.

"Batgirl?!" Red Arrow looked back at the new vigilante. "…Hi."

"Hi."

"…Why were you stalking us?"

"I wasn't stalking you. Batman said I had to tail you as my final test before I could join the Team and start patrolling regularly."

'Of course, he did.' Red Arrow shook his head. "Thanks for letting me know, Dick."

"You couldn't know!" Dick insisted. "The test was to see if she could tail someone unseen without them knowing."

"…Well, for what's it worth, she did a great job. The only reason I spotted her at all was because I was trained by you."

"Hmm…" Batman nodded. "Looks like you both passed then."

"Does this mean we can join Dick's stupid team?" Jason asked.

"If it's so stupid Jay-bird, then why do you want to join so bad?" Dick replied with a grin.

"Well, there will be plenty of room on the roster," Red Arrow said. "I'm leaving the Team."

"You're leaving?! Why?!"

"Because I can't juggle my responsibilities in Star and the Team. There's plenty of people on it anyway. You don't need me."

"But that's the only time I see you!"

"We can still see each other, Dick. It just won't be at Mount Justice."

Dick crossed his arms. "I'm still not happy about it. Have you told Kaldur yet?"

"Not yet."

"He's going to be upset."

"I know, but I've got a couple of ways to make it up to him."

Batman cleared his throat. "Batgirl, take your cowl off," he ordered. "Red Arrow is one of us, he can be trusted."

"He'd better," Batgirl muttered. She reached up and pulled down her cowl. "Barbara Gordon, nice to meet you."

"The commissioner's daughter…" Red Arrow nodded. "I didn't see that coming."

"Come on." Barbara gestured to him. "Off with the mask, Arrow Boy. Let's see who you are."

Red Arrow smirked as he removed his mask. "I'm Roy Harper. Nice to meet you."

"Roy… Wait, the Roy Harper?! As in, the Roy Harper my dad searched Wayne Manor for?! You're alive?!" She spun to look at Bruce and Dick. "And you actually kidnapped him?!"

"Kidnapped?" Jason asked in confusion. "Oh… That must be why no one could know you lived here. Makes sense."

"Still waiting for an explanation."

Roy sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It's kind of a long story," he signed, "but… I was being abused and Bruce and Dick saved me from my previous guardian. There were superhero secret identities involved so we had to be quiet about it."

"Oh. Well… I'm glad you're here then."

"Thanks, except I'm not really here. I operate in Star now. Which I should really be getting back to."

"You're coming back though, right?" Jason asked. "Like…soon?"

"I'll be back next month for Thanksgiving. Alfred already made me swear on my grave I would be there."

"But you're not dead."

"If I don't show up for Thanksgiving dinner I definitely will be." Bruce turned away to hide his smile while Dick laughed; Roy still caught it though. "Congrats on being Robin, Jason. You'll be great at it."

"Damn straight."

"Language, Jason," Bruce chided.

Roy chuckled and turned to Barbara. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Barbara," he said. "I hope I'll see you out there on the streets."

"Same. Bruce goes on and on about how good you are. I want to see if any of it's true."

Roy swallowed as his face heated up. "Sounds good." He turned to Dick, who looked away stubbornly. "Come on, Dick."

Dick sighed, then crossed the space quickly and hugged his brother. "Come back soon," he muttered.

"I will. Promise." Roy pushed Dick away, then looked at Jason. "Keep him in line, Jay."

"I'm doing my best," Jason replied seriously.

"Good. You still want to sleep over in two weeks?"

"Of course!"

"Alright. Bye, Bruce."

"I want to know when you're back in your apartment," Bruce replied.

"You got it." Roy put his mask back on and smiled as he walked back to his bike. 'Jason is Robin now and Barbara Gordon joined us as Batgirl. Seems like things are looking good for us. The Team's getting two new members and Dick's got two more vigilantes to keep him company in the Cave. I'm glad I'm leaving the Team and Dick in good hands.'


	3. Tim

A/N: I swear, I kept thinking all day I needed to update this, but a new story idea was monopolizing my time. This story takes place during the third story. (You know the one I'm currently working on but is a long way from being posted.) So there will be vague references to what's happening in that story during this time if you can catch them. If you can't, then don't worry, all will make sense eventually. I'll probably post the next set of one-shots the week after the next. Let me know what you think!

"Are you sure he's ready?" Roy asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes," Bruce replied. "He can hold his own against myself, Dick, and Barbara. He's more than ready."

"Still…"

"I understand your hesitation, Roy. Believe me, I had no intentions of ever taking on another Robin…but Tim has more than proven his dedication and skill. He'll be a good Robin."

"If he's so ready, then why are we all patrolling together? Dick and I don't even live in Gotham anymore."

Bruce gave him an amused look as if there'd never been months of silence between them recently. "I thought you'd want to meet your new brother and be with him on his first official patrol. Unless you had something important to do in Star?"

"Nope…" Roy resisted the urge to look away. Lying to Bruce was so hard when he was looking directly at him. "I have nothing and no one I should be paying attention to right now."

"Good."

"So am I just introducing myself as Red Arrow, or…"

"You'll know when to tea your mask off."

'Always so dramatic.' Sometimes Roy wished the League could see this side of Batman. The sound of voice carrying down the stairs made their conversation stop. A few seconds later, Roy saw Dick and Barbara, accompanied by a teenage boy. He had black hair and some muscle to him; at least he was bigger than Dick was at his age. The teen had a large smile as his face as he followed Barbara and Dick down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, his eyes found Red Arrow and his face changed to curiosity.

"Tim," Bruce said. "This is-"

"Arsenal," Tim interrupted a hint of disbelief in his voice. "I- Hi."

"Hi," Red Arrow replied, smiling. He could easily see why Dick had already gotten so attached to this kid. "So you're Robin now?"

"Uh…yeah… Are you patrolling with us?"

"I am."

"Cool…" Tim glanced at Dick, then Bruce, then back at Red Arrow. "So…do I get to know your real name, or is that also a secret?"

"You mean you haven't figured it out, Timmy?" Dick asked, putting an arm around the boy. It clearly made Tim uncomfortable, which Roy picked up almost right away. "He's going to be hurt you didn't figure out his identity like the rest of us."

"Uh…"

"Be nice, Dick," Red Arrow smiled as he crossed his arms. "I don't want to scare the poor kid."

Dick sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes, then glanced down at Tim. "Any guesses?"

Tim's eyes narrowed as he studied Red Arrow closely. No one moved as he half-mouthed things to himself as he apparently tried to work out the answer. "….Were you Speedy?" he asked, a hint of uncertainty to his voice.

Roy smiled. "You're good, kid," he admitted. "Dick wasn't kidding when he said you were a genius."

A hint of red crept up to Tim's face. "Why did you leave-"

"That's enough meet and greet," Bruce said suddenly. He got to his feet and pulled on the cowl. "Suit up."

"Let's go, Timmy!" Dick smiled as he ran to his suit.

'Guess I'm not telling him until after patrol,' Roy thought as he watched them leave to change. He turned to Bruce as the peters ran to their suits. "You're sure he's ready?"

"Yes, Roy," Bruce replied evenly. "I'm sure. Believe me, there's no way he'd be going out if he wasn't."

"And you don't want to tell him my identity because…?"

Bruce sighed as he stood up so he and Red Arrow were eye to eye. "Because it's not my place. You're an adult and this isn't your home base anymore. If you want to tell him then go ahead, but I'll let you decide if you think he's trustworthy or not."

"…Thanks." It was a surprisingly genuine show of respect from Batman; especially since they'd only been on regular speaking terms again for less than a month. Red Arrow glanced back in the direction the others had disappeared to change. 'Should I tell him?' Part of Red Arrow thought that he should, if Bruce trusted Tim, then that should be enough for him. 'It's not just me anymore though…' he thought as he checked his bow idly. He ran a hand through his hair. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of time to consider it, because the other vigilantes joined them soon after.

"Let's go," Batman said as he swept past Red Arrow. "Robin, Batgirl, in the Bat-mobile with me."

"And I suppose Nightwing and Red Arrow are walking?" Batgirl asked as she followed Robin and Batman to the Bat-mobile.

"They're taking their bikes."

"Cool people don't have to ride in the backseat anymore," Nightwing smiled.

Batgirl scoffed and pushed his face away. "We'll see how cool you are when we start taking down more bad guys."

"Ohh, is that a challenge?"

"Batgirl, Nightwing," Batman said loudly.

"Come on," Red Arrow muttered as he grabbed Nightwing's arm. "You guys are impossible, just get a room."

"Babs and I are just friends now," Nightwing replied as he pulled away and walked over to his motorcycle.

"Uh-huh."

"You have no room to talk there Mr. It-took-months-to-realize-Kaldur-was-pining-for-you."

Red Arrow rolled his eyes as he got on his bike, then stowed his bow on his back with his quiver. "Shut up."

Nightwing stuck his tongue out at him, then sped out of the cave after the Bat-mobile.

'Amazing how he can act like nothing ever happened,' Red Arrow thought with a twinge of…something, in his chest. He started his bike and followed after his younger brother. 'We don't speak to each other for over a year and now he's laughing and joking like nothing ever happened.' And even then, it had only been to tell Roy that he was stepping back from the Team for a few months to help Bruce with something. 'And that something turned out to be a new Robin.' Again, so nice of his family to keep him in the loop. Not that he had a lot of grounds to judge them for that. 'Oh well. We'll see how good Tim is soon enough.'

— —

Once they were in the city, Robin stuck close to Batman, while Batgirl split off with Nightwing and Red Arrow. For the first half of the night, everything went as well as they could've. Red Arrow took full advantage of his long-distance weapons to beat his brother and sister to the crimes. For the most part, Batgirl seemed to take in stride. She looked back at him with a wide smile and a bit of a smirk.

Nightwing, on the other hand, took a different route. "You're cheating!" he complained loudly.

"It's not cheating when my name is Red Arrow," Red Arrow smirked as he tied up another car thief. It was like there was a bet going on with the criminal underworld or something. "You're just slow."

Nightwing scoffed. "Can you believe this guy, BG? He takes a year-long vay-kay from Gotham and comes back like he's king of the world or something."

Although he knew his brother was joking, the words 'year-long vay-kay' made Red Arrow narrow his eyes. 'Is he really acting like the year we spent ignoring each other and I was left the grieve on my own for months was my fault?!'

Batgirl picked up on Red Arrow's irritation almost immediately, because she cleared her throat. "Bats said to re-group after a couple hours, so let's track him and Robin down."

"Let's go." Red Arrow let Nightwing swing ahead of them before he followed. He could feel Batgirl watching him as they grappled their way back to the rendezvous point. As they swung, the archer took the moment to breathe and try to squash his anger. 'Dick's just being himself…' he thought. 'He's just… It's just Dick.'

When they made it to the meet-up point, Batman and Robin were waiting for them.

"Having a good first patrol, buddy?" Nightwing asked as he put his arm on Robin's shoulder. The teen made an uncountable face and stepped back, letting Nightwing fall on his face.

"We're tracking a weapons trafficker," Batman explained. "I have some information on a deal that's going down tonight. Nightwing, Batgirl, you two head toward the harbor to scout ahead. Red Arrow, take Robin and stake-out along the water."

"You're in good hands," Batgirl reassured Robin. "This is practically Arrow's area of expertise."

"Absolutely," Nightwing agreed as he somersaulted to his feet. "He'll teach you everything you need to know."

Robin nodded, then looked at Red Arrow. The archer gestured for the young vigilante to follow. "Let's go, kid," he said as he did. The two of them grappled back to the ground, then Red Arrow got on his bike. "Hop on and hold on tight." When Robin got on the back, then wrapped his arms around Red Arrow's torso, the archer had to force himself to keep breathing. The constricting feeling only continued though as he drove toward the harbor. 'Focus!' Red Arrow snapped mentally. 'Don't- Don't think about that. Focus on the case.' A bolt of grief, much stronger than any he'd felt in months, went through Red Arrow's heart. He gritted his teeth and tried to squash it. His hands tightened around the handlebars. 'Just focus on the case. Just…focus on the case.' Just the case. Not about the last time he had a Robin on the back of his bike, hugging his torso and cracking jokes in his ear over the sounds of the wind.

When they got to the harbor, Red Arrow found a place to hide his bike, then lead Robin to the roof of an old warehouse and scouted a good lookout location. "Here," he said a few minutes later. "You stay here and keep on the road going north. I'll keep an eye on the south."

"Ok," Robin replied. "Should I tell you first if I see something, or-"

"Tell Batman first." Red Arrow's voice was brisk as he interrupted. "Do you know how to do stakeouts?"

"Yes…"

"Good." Red Arrow walked away and found himself a spot to watch the road ten feet away. Part of him felt bad for being so blunt with Robin, it was the kid's first night on the job, but with a seemingly fresh wave of grief washing over him, it was all he could do see the kid in the Robin suit. 'At least it's different,' Red Arrow thought as he took out his bow and set on the rooftop next him as he crouched down. 'Darker. Better for nighttime vigilante work.' It was silent for close to an hour as the two vigilantes watch the road. Red Arrow actually had to shift positions a couple of times to keep his legs from falling asleep. Small movements of red from the corner of his eye told him Robin had the same problem. The archer sighed a little. It wasn't just that he hadn't seen anyone he could be their traffickers, no one had driven down the dark road in the last hour. 'Come on,' he thought. 'There should at least be some guys coming ahead of time. That's how this normally happens. What's going on?' Another half an hour of nothing prompted him to ask Batman if there was a problem. However, the question hadn't even left his mouth he froze. There was no static on the comm line. No indication it had connected to someone else's. He looked over at his companion. "Robin."

"Yeah?" Robin replied, his head snapped up.

"Ask Batman what's taking so long."

"…Ok." The teen's tone told Red Arrow he's been tempted to argue, but had decided against it.

The archer didn't dwell on it, however, as he simply focused on waiting for the reply. It didn't take long as Robin looked back at him after a few seconds with a confused look on his face. "Well?"

"He's not answering. I'm not sure it even connected."

"…Fuck." Red Arrow got to his feet and snatched up his bow. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Robin followed quickly. "Why are we leaving? I thought we were supposed to be on lookout duty?'

"The comms aren't working, which means someone's jamming them."

"So?"

"So, the only reason someone would be jamming radio frequencies next to the harbor is if they're doing something illegal. We're far enough from the supposed sale sight that we should be out of range."

"That means the deal is happening here then?"

"If it happens at all. This could be an unrelated crime. Either way, Batman's intel was bad and we don't want to be here right now." Red Arrow grappled to the ground and Robin followed. They stopped in the shadows for a moment, then ran to the shadow of the next building. 'We need to get outside the range of the jammer fast.' The fastest way back to his bike involved crossing an open space of boards the was well-lit by the lights along the path that ringed the harbor. Red Arrow cursed under his breath. "Ok, Robin, we need to make a run for it. We need to get to my bike and out of the jammer's range. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Come on." Red Arrow took off at a sprint. Despite how fast he was moving, he still tried to keep his feet silent as he moved. He guessed Robin was doing the same because the teen's feet were just as silent. As focused as he was on getting back into the shadows safely, Red Arrow came to a sudden stop when a gunshot hit the wood in front of him. The stop caused Robin to run into him. Before he had a chance to say anything, the archer turned in the direction the gunshot had come from; his hand on Robin's chest to push the younger vigilante back. As soon as he was facing the direction where the shot had come from, pain shot through his chest. His took his breath away and the force of it, like getting sucker punched, caused Red Arrow to stumble back. The railing behind him was rotted and he fell through easily, into the Gotham Harbor waters below.

"Red Arrow!"

Robin's surprised cry was the last thing Red Arrow heard before he went under the water. He fought through the pain to try and swim. Every moment of his arms brought pain shooting through his ribs though. Just as he let out a curse, which was muffled by the water, two hands gripped him under his arms and pulled. Though he couldn't see who it was, Red Arrow kicked his feet to help his rescuer. Within a few seconds, his head broke the surface of the water and he took a breath. Red Arrow spun around in the water. "Robin?" he asked upon seeing the soaking teen treading water in front of him. "What-"

"N- Nightwing said you couldn't swim. I- I was worried you'd drown."

Red Arrow fought a small smile. "I used to be able to not swim. Aqualad taught me how."

"Oh…"

Even in the dim light, Red Arrow could see the red tint to Robin's cheeks. "Come on. Let's get out of here." They started swimming along the walkway of the harbor and quickly found a ladder. Red Arrow went up first, then turned around to help Robin up. This was his second biggest mistake of the night because someone grabbed his quiver and jerked him back. The momentum allowed Red Arrow to pull Robin off the ladder, then he let go and reached around to grab the hand. Before he got too far though, a gun clicked next to his ear. The archer froze and his eyes darted over to Robin. Two large men had their guns against the younger vigilante's head. 'What the hell?!'

"Looks like we caught a couple of bat brats," one of the men sneered. "Doing what bats do best. Stickin' their noses where they ain't wanted!"

"Hey, George!" one of the men who had a gun on Robin yelled. "Look at this one! Looks like Robin is back!"

"Oh, he is, is he?"

Red Arrow considered reaching for an arrow in his quiver, but before he could decide, blunt pain echoed through his head. The archer gasped and his knees buckled. Through the pain he could hear one of the men grunt in pain, then another. It spurred him to reach for an arrow in his quiver, but before he could reach one, he was thrown off-balance. Strong hands dragged him away and he just barely managed to keep his feet under himself. 'R-Robin…' he thought as he stumbled. 'R-Robin! Have to protect Robin…' The hands suddenly disappeared and he was thrown forward onto his face. There was a bang and a grunt next to him, then a screeching sound. Finally, a clang! and then everything was silent for a moment.

"R-Red Arrow?" Robin asked quietly. "Are you ok?"

"Uh-huh," Red Arrow replied. He opened his eyes and was met with pitch blackness. Grunting against the pain that echoed in his head, sat up and rummaged through the pouches on his leg-harnesses. He found a glow stick and cracked it. A second later it lit up with a lime-green light. In the dim light, he could see Robin. The teen's lip was split and he had the beginnings of a bruise on his cheek. "You alright kid?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Good." Red Arrow moved the glow stick around and sighed. They were in a meal shipping container of some kind. "Great."

"Are we trapped?"

"We are. We'll have to sit tight until Batman comes or the bad guys comes back."

"…I hope Batman comes first."

"Me too, kid." Red Arrow sat against the wall of the container. 'As soon as my head stops pounding I'm going to find a way out. I have to get home tonight. They're waiting for me.'

"Can- Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Robin was quiet for a moment before he asked hesitantly, "You were close to him, weren't you?" He definitely noticed how tense Red Arrow suddenly got, but pressed on. "The- The last…Robin."

Red Arrow sighed as grief bubbled up in his chest. "Yeah. I- I was."

"Nightwing said you used to take him to a bookstore in Star City and he slept over there a lot-"

"Can we not talk about that?"

"Sorry." Robin glanced at the metal floor, then back up at Red Arrow. "I'm not trying to replace him."

"I know…"

"You do?" Robin frowned. "But…then why don't you like me?"

Red Arrow let out a choked laugh. "I don't hate you, Robin. What happened after… What happened between me, B, and 'Wing afterward was complicated." And lonely. Incredibly lonely. "Batgirl's the only one who was really there when it all went to hell." He ran his fingers through his hair, then looked at Robin. "It has nothing to do with you. I still miss Jay and I'm still mad at B and 'Wing for cutting me out when things got bad."

"They cut you out? How?"

"…After we fund out what happened, Nightwing took it badly. We were all in the Bat Cave when B told us and Nightwing… He just went off on me." Red Arrow closed his eyes as his stomach flip-flopped. "He was so angry at me."

"Why?"

"I was in Star when it happened. Nightwing and Batgirl were on a mission with the Team and out of the country. Because I was "closer" I should've been there to help Jay. 'Wing thought I should've saved him. B never told me Jay had gone missing that night. None of us knew until after the fact. But Nightwing didn't care. He was angry and grieving and…he wanted someone to take his anger out on. Unfortunately, that person was me."

"Oh." Robin swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but it's not your fault. Like I said, it has nothing to do with you. Things are still weird between me and Nightwing. As for you and me… I really jumped into the big brother thing last time-"

"And you want to be a little more cautious this time." Robin nodded. "Makes sense. I understand."

"Thanks." Red Arrow rubbed his temples. "Ok. Now that my head is no longer being jackhammered, we need a plan in case the bad guys come back."

"What were you thinking?"

"Simple. I need you to keep them busy and I'll take them down from behind. Think you can do it?"

Robin nodded eagerly. "You got it-"

The doors of the shipping container screeched open and Red Arrow sat up straighter. Before he could hurl a threat at the bad guys though, he heard something that made his mouth go dry.

"At night they fly, you'd better run. These winged things are not so much fun," a familiar voice practically sang. "What are they?'

"Bats?" Robin guessed.

"Very good, little bird." Riddler stepped into the dim light of Red Arrow's glow stick, his smile wide and calculating. "Why do baseball pitchers stay away from caves?"

"They don't like bats."

"I have to agree." Riddler snapped his fingers and two henchmen grabbed Red Arrow. They pulled him to his feet, then slammed him against the metal wall of the shipping container. With the archer restrained, Riddler turned to Robin. "Since you answered the preliminary rounds correctly, you get to be contestant number one. Answer correct and you move on. Answer wrong…" He snapped his fingers again and one of the goons punched Red Arrow in the gut. The archer gasped and tried to double-over in pain, but the two henchmen holding his arms wouldn't let him. "So, Robin, let's play. If 20 blackbirds are on a fence and you shoot one, how many remain?"

"…19?" Robin flinched when Red Arrow's head snapped to the side with the force of a punch.

"Wrong!"

Robin closed his eyes and thought. "None. The birds all fly away after the sound of the gunshot."

"Correct. What is the craziest bird in the world?'

"Uh…" Robin wracked his brain.

"Time's up!" Riddler snapped his fingers again and one of the henchmen punched red Arrow in the gut again.

"Hey! I haven't even answered yet!"

"You didn't answer in 10 seconds."

"You never said that was a rule!"

"Well, it is now." Another nod and the henchmen hit the archer again. "Tick-tock, birdie."

"Uh… The coo coo bird."

"Correct. What do birds do before they work out?"

"…They do their worm ups." Robin looked at Red Arrow. He managed to catch the archer's eye and caught a slight nod from his head. 'Keep the bad guys busy. Right.'

"I can be the sun, I can be sand, I can be a bird. I am…"

"A clock."

Red Arrow closed his eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath. He let his whole body go limp, pulling on the hands holding him with all his weight. The grips of the hands loosened and he jumped up. Red Arrow pushed his feet off the shipping container wall into a flip. He grabbed the hands of the henchmen as he moved, and easily threw them to the ground. He moved quickly and tripped the third one, then punched him down to the ground. A look at Riddler told the archer the rogue had turned toward him.

Behind Riddler, Robin saw his chance. He threw himself to his feet, then whipped out a bird-a-rang. It hit Riddler in the back of the head and cut him. He spun toward Robin, but the vigilante kicked him in the face. Riddler went down and Robin took the opportunity to restrain him while he was stunned. Robin looked over at Red Arrow, who was restraining the henchmen. "Are you ok? I'm sorry I got those wrong answers, I was thinking as fast as I could-"

"It's fine, Robin. I'm ok. Everything's ok."

"Ok. Ok, good."

Red Arrow gave him a smile. "You did a good job, kid."

"…Thanks…"

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Red Arrow led Robin out of the shipping crate, then they limped off. Both vigilantes were on alert as they walked. A few blocks away, Red Arrow tried his comm.

"Find them now!" Batman yelled, making Robin and Red Arrow jump.

"Take it down a few decibels, Batman!"

"Red Arrow!" Batgirl gasped. "Are you-"

"RA, where's Robin?!" Nightwing asked. "Is he ok?! Are you guys hurt?!"

"Robin is with me, we're both fine. We ran into some trouble but it's all good."

"Stay where you are, we're coming to your location," Batman ordered.

"You got it." Red Arrow looked at Robin and gestured to him. "Let's hide over here."

The two of them hid in the shadows until their friends arrived. Robin sat on the ground, his side pressed against Red Arrow's. "Sorry," he whispered after a few seconds of silence. "There isn't a lot of room."

"You're fine." Red Arrow smiled down at him. "You had some pretty good moves back there."

"Thanks. You- You did too."

"Thanks." A shiver went through Red Arrow and he pulled his arms closer to his body. 'I want some pain medicine, a warm shower, and lots of sleep.'

It was only fifteen minutes before Nightwing and Batgirl reached them. "Red Arrow, Robin?" Nightwing asked. "Where are you guys?!"

"Over here." Red Arrow got to his feet and led Robin into the streetlights.

Nightwing ran over and hugged Robin. The teen let out a startled gasped. "I'm fine, Nightwing," he said. "Really."

Batman descended on the group and was instantly at Red Arrow's side. His hand grazed over the red welts on the archer's face. "Who?" he asked.

"Riddler," Red Arrow replied. He pointed back the way he and Robin and come. "Tied up in a shipping container that way."

"I'll alert the GCPD. Nightwing, Batgirl, take Robin and Red Arrow back to the Cave."

"Got it, B," Batgirl replied. She went over to Red Arrow. "Do you need help?"

"No. I'm good."

"Let's get you guys home so you can checked out," Nightwing said, his arm still around Robin.

'Great idea.'

— —

A couple hours later, Red Arrow had been cleared by Alfred and was waiting around for Bruce to get home so he could head back to Star.

"Are you sure you want to go back tonight?" Barbara asked.

"I'm sure. I have…stuff to take care of," Red Arrow replied.

"You're coming back soon, though?"

"As soon as I can. I've been really busy." Busier than any of them knew.

Tim looked at him, now changed out of his suit. "What kind of stuff are you working on?"

"I'll tell you about it another time." The sound of the Bat-mobile announced the arrival of Batman and Red Arrow hopped off the examination table. "Thanks, Alfred."

"Please try to take it easy, sir," Alfred said. "And don't be a stranger."

"I'll try." Red Arrow gave him a hug, then followed the others into the main part of the Cave. He found Batman was already there when he got there. "Later, B," he said.

"You're leaving?" Batman asked. "Is that a good idea?"

"Good idea or not, I have something in Star that needs my urgent attention." Red Arrow tried not to shiver or look away as Batman surveyed his face critically. 'Please don't do the detective thing tonight, Bruce. I'll tell you eventually, just not right now. Not while it's still weird.'

Batman nodded. "Get home safe."

"Thanks." Red Arrow turned to his siblings and Barbara gave him a hug. "Later, Barbie."

"Take it easy, Harper."

Red Arrow turned to Dick and his brother gave him a stiff hug. "See you."

"See you," Nightwing replied. "Uh…soon, I hope?"

"I hope so too." Lastly, Red Arrow turned to Tim. "Get some rest kid, you did good tonight."

"Thanks," Tim replied. "Will you come patrol with us again?"

"I'm pretty busy in Star-" Red Arrow caught the way Tim's face fell, then smiled. "But I'll see what I can do."

"Oh. Great. Uh…Thanks. Um, bye then, Red Arrow."

Red Arrow smiled as he pulled off his mask. "You can call me Roy Harper."

Tim's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're the guy! The one I saw through the fence that time! I thought I imagined you!"

"Sorry to disappoint."

"…Wait. Roy Harper?" Tim frowned. "Aren't you dead?!"

Roy could hear Barbara and Dick laugh behind his back. He cleared his throat to try and keep himself from laughing. "That's a…long story. I'll tell you about it some other time."

"Ok. Well…bye, Roy."

"Bye, Tim. Congrats on being Robin. You deserve it."

"Thanks!"

'He's a good kid,' Red Arrow thought as he headed for his bike, which had been retrieved by Dick while he was being examined. 'He's not Jason, but I think we'll get along fine.'


End file.
